Chinese coach Yan makes El Jaish tick

EL JAISH had an incredible season by making a clean sweep of domestic titles — Qatar League, Qatar Cup, Singles and Doubles Championships and Emir’s Cup.

Jaish, who got merged with Lekhwiya and are to be launched as Duhail SC, thus repeated last year’s performance to emerge as the No.1 side in the country, thanks to the hard work done by coach Yan Hong-Jun.

The 55-year-old, who has been in Qatar since 2003, has seen the game grow in the country, with several top players starting under him.

“I came to Doha in 2003 as the national Under-12 coach, but left in 2005 as I was unwell. The authorities asked me to resume duties soon after the Asian Games,” added Yan, who hails from China’s Shanxi province.

Qatar internationals, like Jassim Al Sanadi and Abdulrahman Al Najjar, initially trained under Yan when he briefly worked at the ASPIRE Academy.

“I had coached them when they were very young. I’m happy to see their progress,” said Yan, who joined Jaish four seasons ago.

“The Qatar Table Tennis Association has done a great job in promoting the sport, but the primary area of focus should be U-10 boys,” he added. dsp